Victory for plaintiff in China gay conversion case

Published 1:37 pm, Friday, December 19, 2014

Yang Teng holds up a statue of the goddess of justice and a rainbow flag outside a Beijing court.

Yang Teng holds up a statue of the goddess of justice and a rainbow flag outside a Beijing court.

Photo: Ng Han Guan / Associated Press

Victory for plaintiff in China gay conversion case

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BEIJING — A Chinese psychological clinic was ordered Friday to pay compensation to a gay man who sued it for administering electric shocks intended to make him heterosexual, in what is believed to be China’s first case involving what is called conversion therapy.

Li said the court also ruled that there was no need to administer shocks because homosexuality did not require treatment. A suit against search engine giant Baidu for advertising the Xinyu Piaoxiang clinic in the western city of Chongqing was dismissed.

Reached by phone, Yang said he was “very satisfied with the results, which I didn’t expect. The court sided with me, and it has supported that homosexuality is not a mental disease that requires treatment.”

Yang said the therapy included hypnosis and electric shocks that harmed him both physically and emotionally.

He said he voluntarily underwent the therapy in February following pressure from his parents to marry and have a child.

Yang said the verdict will help gay rights advocates to urge clinics to stop offering such treatments and persuade parents not to pressure their gay children to undergo therapy.

“Someone needs to step up because we must stop such severe transgressions,” he said.

Homosexuality is finding increasing acceptance in China, although many gay men still face strong family pressure to wed and carry on the family line.

China declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder in 2001, although no laws outlaw discrimination against sexual minorities and same-sex partnerships are not recognized.